Robbie Maddison’s Pipe Dream

Not for nothing has motorcycle stuntman Robbie Madison been nicknamed ‘Maddo’. The man who’s performed one dangerous stunt after another, including a breath-taking one in the James Bond movie ‘Skyfall,’ has notched up another first – surfing on a bike in Tahiti!

Once upon a time, there was Evel Knievel – the American stuntman who held a clutch of big records (including one for the highest number of broken bones). But times change, and records are meant to be broken. Robbie Madison started breaking records with his motorcycle long jumps – flying by bike beyond a football field (90 metres) and a dock (115 metres). He jumped up and down the Arc de Triomphe (not the one in Paris, but its copy in Las Vegas), while, in London, he crossed the Tower Bridge with a backflip on his bike, “or else it would have been too easy.”

NO ONE LIKE HIM

But Maddo soon ran out of challenges of propelling his bike through the air. It was then that the 34-year-old Australian started focusing on his dream – to surf the biggest possible wave on a bike. On the face of it, the idea was prohibitive. So, it’s no wonder that the project was named ‘Pipe dream.’ Maddo’s seemingly outrageous plan underlined an insane challenge to push to inconceivable limits of what can be done while riding a bike.

But, in the end, everything paid off. The equipment used to make his KTM float and generate traction on water functioned so well that it allowed Maddo to complete his adrenaline-pumping experiment as he and his bike passed through a huge wave. The video, which immediately went viral, made headlines on TV as well. It you haven’t watched it yet, then you must.

Stunning images of the Pipe Dream, which required three long years of training. The sponsorship by DC Shoes helped transform the KTM 250 SX of Maddo into a sort of an amphibian – thanks to side boards and a webbed rear tyre.

Pipe Dream was fulfilled in the summer of 2015 in Tahiti – a beautiful surfing paradise. On completion, this is what Maddo had to say: “What gives me more happiness is not to have achieved this record, but to have believed in myself to the extent that something almost impossible could be made possible.”

Author Description

Quattroruote - Editoriale Domus – among the most respected publishers in Italy – has been producing one of Europe’s leading automotive publications, Quattroruote, since 1956. Quattroruote and autoX formed an editorial partnership in 2013.
Editoriale Domus is also the only publication group in the world to have it’s own FIA certified test track, which has even been used by Formula 1 teams and automotive manufacturers. This dedicated test facility enables Quattroruote to put together some of the most comprehensive and detailed automotive reviews on the planet.